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Kentucky and Indiana have agreed to pay Kapsch TrafficCom IVHS Inc.$39.9 million to install and operate tolls on the Ohio River Bridges Project for seven years.

At a meeting of the Ohio River Bridges Project Joint Board Monday, the board chose Kapsch as the provider of electronic tolling that will be implemented on the East End Bridge and both the northbound and southbound Interstate 65 bridges. Kapsch was chosen from a list of six short-listed companies, four of which submitted proposals to install, collect and maintain electronic tolls.

Each proposal was evaluated by looking at the technical proposals and price proposals separately and then combining an aggregate score to determine the preferred toll vendor, said Kendra York, director of the Indiana Finance Authority.

Although Kapsch was chosen by the joint board, the toll provider still must go through final approvals. Indiana will host a public hearing to accept comments about the toll services provider on Monday, Sept. 29, in Jeffersonville, according to Indiana Department of Transportation spokesman Will Wingfield.

The final contract for tolling services is expected to be awarded by Nov. 11.

The $39.9 million is for the installation of the electronic tolling system, as well as the operation and maintenance of the tolling system for seven years, York said. The contract is renewable for one two-year extension.

According to the financing plans adopted by each state, tolls are set to be in place for a 35-year term. The $39.9 million total is a fixed price, regardless of toll collection rates. “The $39 million is part of and has been part of our estimated costs for this project all along” Kentucky Transportation Cabinet secretary Mike Hancock said at a news conference following the meeting. “The cost to collect tolls is simply something you can’t forgo.”

Hancock said the next steps will be to hammer out the details of a final tolling agreement between bridges project officials and Kapsch, now that it has been chosen as the tolling provider.